Gonzaga stakes its claim to No. 1 ranking with rout of Portland

SPOKANE, Wash. — Elias Harris had 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 2 Gonzaga beat Portland 81-52 on Saturday to stake a claim to its first-ever No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press' Top 25.

The Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. — Elias Harris had 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 2 Gonzaga beat Portland 81-52 on Saturday to stake a claim to its first-ever No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press' Top 25.

Kelly Olynyk added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Gonzaga (29-2, 16-0 West Coast), which had already clinched the West Coast Conference regular season title and the top seed in next weekend's tournament. Gary Bell Jr. added 14 points.

Gonzaga, winner of 12 consecutive games since a last-second loss at Butler, has escaped the losses that have afflicted other teams at or near the top of the poll in recent weeks. That included a loss by top-ranked Indiana to Minnesota earlier this week that opened the door for the Bulldogs.

The Hoosiers (25-4, 13-3 Big Ten) rebounded from this week's loss to Minnesota. But it was no typical night for Indiana's shooters, who were 38.9 percent from the field and didn't hit a 3-pointer until the final minute.

No. 3 Duke 79, No. 5 Miami 76

At Durham, N.C., Duke's Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 36 points in his return from a foot injury that had sidelined him since January.

Kelly was 10 of 14 from the field — including 7 of 9 from 3-point range— for the Blue Devils (25-4, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who avenged a blowout road loss in January by grinding out a tough win in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Quinn Cook added 15 points as Duke built a 10-point lead with about 2 minutes left then held off a frantic rally by Miami.

No. 6 Kansas 91,West Virginia 65

At Lawrence, Kan., Ben McLemore scored a Kansas freshman-record 36 points, and Jeff Withey came within one block of a triple-double.

McLemore, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman, went to the bench with a little more than 5 minutes left after hitting 12 of 15 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc. He had seven rebounds and four assists.

No. 7 Georgetown 64,Rutgers 51

At Washington, taking over the game after Georgetown trailed early in the second half, Otto Porter Jr. finished with 28 points and eight rebounds, leading the Hoyas past Rutgers for their 11th consecutive victory.

Porter made only six field goals but went 15 of 18 at the line, the most made free throws by a Georgetown player since Mike Sweetney's 16 on April 1, 2003.

No. 8 Florida 64, Alabama 52

At Gainesville, Fla., Casey Prather had 10 points and nine rebounds, most of them in the second half, and Florida rallied from an eight-point deficit.

The Gators used a 15-0 run late in the second half — fueled by Prather — to pull away from the Crimson Tide and remain unbeaten at home.

No. 10 Louisville 58,Syracuse 53

At Syracuse, N.Y., Luke Hancock hit a 3-pointer from the corner to break a tie with 50 seconds left for Louisville, which lost to Syracuse earlier this season.

It was the third straight loss for Syracuse (22-7, 10-6 Big East).

Louisville (24-5, 12-4) snapped a three-game losing streak against Syracuse, and the Cardinals did it before a stunned crowd of 31,173.

Russ Smith led Louisville with 18 points, Hancock had 12, all on 3s, and Gorgui Dieng finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

C.J. Fair had 19 points to lead the Orange, James Southerland added 13 and Michael Carter-Williams 11.

No. 13 Kansas State 64, Baylor 61

At Waco, Texas, Rodney McGruder hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Kansas State pulled out a victory after a failed desperation inbound pass gave the Wildcats one more chance.

But the ball went out of bounds without being touched, so the Wildcats got it under their own basket with the second still on the clock.

After a timeout, Angel Rodriguez inbounded to McGruder on the right wing.

McGruder had 18 points to lead Kansas State (24-5, 13-3), which won its fifth straight to maintain a share of the Big 12 lead with sixth-ranked Kansas with two regular season games left.

Pierre Jackson had 18 points and seven assists for Baylor.

No. 14 New Mexico 53, Wyoming 42

At Albuquerque, N.M., Alex Kirk had 15 points and nine rebounds and New Mexico clinched the Mountain West Conference regular season title.

The Lobos (25-4, 12-2 MWC) went 21 for 27 from the free throw line in winning or sharing the title for fifth time in the last six seasons. Cameron Bairstow contributed 13 points and nine rebounds and Kendall Williams had six assists for the Lobos.

Riley Grabau scored 14 points for the Cowboys (18-11, 4-11).

New Mexico closed the first half on a 13-6 run after Kendall Williams picked off a pass deep in the Wyoming end and turned it into a dunk just before the buzzer for a 25-19 lead.

A showcase of two of the Big 12's marquee point guards ended up being a sloppy one, with Kabongo committing a career-high seven turnovers while the Cowboys' Marcus Smart had five.

Oklahoma State (22-6, 12-4 Big 12) took advantage of two of Kabongo's turnovers to score the final eight points of the first half and start an 18-2 run that carried beyond halftime. By the time it was over, the Cowboys were firmly in front at 47-33 after Nash drove through traffic for a right-handed slam.

The Longhorns (13-16, 5-11) couldn't duplicate their comeback from a 22-point deficit in the final 8 minutes of regulation in an overtime win against Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

Julien Lewis returned after missing the last game with a concussion and led Texas with 15 points, hitting four of 11 from 3-point range. Javan Felix scored 13 points. Kabongo ended up with a season-low seven points and eight assists, missing five of seven shots.

No. 18 Saint Louis 66, George Washington 58

At Washington, At Washington, Dwayne Evans scored 22 points and Kwamain Mitchell added 18 and Saint Louis won its 11th straight game, holding off George Washington.

With two games remaining in the regular season, Saint Louis (23-5, 12-2 Atlantic 10) holds a one-game lead over Virginia Commonwealth (23-6, 11-3), which routed No. 20 Butler 84-52 on Saturday.

Reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Kevin Larsen led George Washington with 14 points. The Colonials (12-15, 6-8) have lost three straight and five of six.

The Colonials led by three with just over 7 minutes left when the Billikens put together a 10-0 run. Evans hit two free throws and then converted a layup when Mitchell's 3-point attempts came up short. Rob Loe, Evans and Mitchell all made two free throws on consecutive possessions to put Saint Louis up 55-48 with 4:20 left.

At Richmond, Va., Troy Daniels scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half and VCU's full-court pressure overwhelmed Butler from the outset.

In a much anticipated rematch of their unlikely meeting in the national semifinals in Houston in 2011, the Rams (23-6, 11-3 Atlantic 10) dominated, forcing 14 turnovers in the first half, one more than Butler's average for a game, and converted them into 24 points on their way to a 45-21 lead.

Butler (22-7, 9-5) scored the first seven points after halftime to close within 17, but Briante Weber and Treveon Graham both scored five points in a 10-4 run and it was pretty much over, allowing the Rams to clinch one of the top four seeds in the conference tournament later this month.

Jack Cooley, Notre Dame's leading scorer, had his minutes limited due to illness. He was 0 for 1 from the field and had one rebound in 15 minutes.

No. 25 Louisiana Tech 88, San Jose State 61

At Ruston, La., Raheem Appleby scored 16 points and Louisiana Tech extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games, clinching at least a share of its first Western Athletic Conference championship with a victory over San Jose State.

Xavier Jones led San Jose State (9-18, 3-13) with 14 points, while D.J. Brown and Chris Cunningham each had 10. Louisiana Tech hit seven 3-pointers in the first half and used a 16-4 run to go ahead 29-12 en route to a 45-26 halftime lead. The Bulldogs held San Jose State to 33 percent shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes and forced 12 turnovers.